Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has expressed hope that healthcare workers and transportation operators get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus before the two weeks period provided by the Government expires.
In updated Covid-19 measures which took effect August 1, the Guyana Government mandated that these categories of workers be vaccinated against the life-threatening virus.
In the case of healthcare workers, failure to do so would mean that they will be required to submit regular PCR tests to prove that they are not infected with the disease. For public transport operators, their licences could be suspended.
Several of these persons have since taken to the streets to protest against the measures, causing government to announce on August 11, a two-week timeframe within which they were urged to reconsider their stance and get vaccinated.
During his Covid-19 update on Thursday, Dr Anthony lamented that many healthcare workers remain unvaccinated.
“In the health sector, we still have number of persons who have not been vaccinated and they probably have different reasons why they’re not vaccinated,” the Minister explained.
But he noted that “if for whatever reason they refuse to get vaccinated, then after this period would’ve lapsed, they would have to comply by showing a PCR result…before you could enter the workplace.”
“It is going to be unfortunate that you have vaccinated people who are protected and then you’re going to have unvaccinated persons who will be coming into this institution and then want to mingle with those that are vaccinated,” the Minister added.
Nevertheless, with a few days still remaining before the two week expires, the Health Minister expressed hope that healthcare workers and transport operators can do their research on the vaccines and make an informed decision.
He stressed that the vaccine will protect against the Delta variant which is resulting in more hospitalisations and deaths.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Narine Singh revealed on August 17 that there are some categories of persons who may be exempted from taking a vaccine. These include pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as persons with certain underlying medical conditions.
